When Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by 2 wickets in the Super Four qualifying round in Asia Cup on Thursday, one of the players from Sri Lankan team, Chamika Karunaratne, celebrated the win with a dance from the dressing room. The style is known as the Naagin dance or snake dance. The hands raised on the head imitating a hooded cobra.
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It was also mimicked by many Sri Lankan fans to mock the Bangladeshi team that lost a nail-biting thriller.
However, this wasn't the first time a Sri Lankan player did this. Karunaratne had also once done the snake dance.
Who started this dance? It started back in 2017 when Bangladeshi left-arm spinner Najmul Islam Apu was playing for the Rajshahi Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the T20 league.
Najmul, at one point in the match went for a snake dance with his hand raised like a hooded cobra. It surprised his captain Darren Sammy. Najmul Islam had this way of celebrating wickets in domestic cricket. The Bangladesh cricket team also picked it and started doing it during international matches.
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Sri Lanka-Bangladesh rivalry: When Najmul made his debut for the Bangladesh team in 2018, he continued his style of hooded snake dance. In the game against Sri Lanka, Najmul picked four wickets including that of the captain Danushka Gunathilaka. His team mates also joined him and copied the snake dance when he took wickets.